The Lucasville Uprising was a rebellion against oppressive and racist policies at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF) in Lucasville, OH. Nine inmates and one guard died during the uprising in April of 1993. Today, many people are serving time or condemned to death by the state of Ohio in relation to the uprising. We demand amnesty for all of these inmates. The conditions at SOCF were (and still are) intolerable and unconscionable.

Monday, April 23, 2018

Three Uprising prisoners on hunger strike to restore communication access.

In clear retaliation during the 25th anniversary of the 1993 uprising,
the Ohio State Penitentiary administration rolled back communication
access and possibly other conditions exclusively for the survivors of
the Lucasville Uprising.

Please call Ohio State Penitentiary between 9am and 5pm EST. Dial 330-743-0700 and press 0 then ask to speak with Warden Bowen.

SUGGESTED SCRIPT:

“Hello, my name is _____. I'm calling to demand you reverse Friday's policy changes that imposed
new restrictions on prisoners impacted by the Lucasville uprising. None
of these prisoners violated any rules and there's no justification for
rolling back important policies that help them survive the 25 years of
solitary confinement the ODRC has cruelly subjected them to.”

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION / TALKING POINTS:

- The policy change seems to have impacted Siddique Hasan, Greg Curry,
Jason Robb, Namir Mateen (James Were), Keith LaMar and possibly others.
Some of these prisoners were actively reaching out to media regarding
the 25th anniversary, others weren't. Some are on special “5A
long-timer” status, (something the prison invented to keep them at OSP
indefinitely) others are at lower security levels. The common thread is
that they're all survivors of the uprising.

-The move took
place late Friday afternoon, so that supporters would be unable to call
the prison for more information or to reverse the policy until Monday
morning.

-Over the weekend, admin assured the prisoners that
the restriction would end Monday morning, and was only imposed to
prevent them from talking to the public about the anniversary of
Lucasville (which is itself a violation of their rights).

-This turned out to be a lie and delaying tactic. Phone and email access
was not restored. In fact, the prison showed greater disregard for the
prisoner's rights by denying a legal call.

-Keith, Hasan, and Jason are starting a hunger strike on Tuesday April 24 demanding restored access.

-A new captain on the block has been threatening to return “long-timer”
privileges back to “how it used to be”. That might refer to conditions
before the series of hunger strikes that won increased contact
visitation, phone access, law library, congregate recreation, Jpay kiosk
access for email and video visits, and less restrictions on books and
music. We're not sure at this time which of these conditions have
changed.

-Greg Curry is not on “long-timer” status, but his
communication access is restricted. Monday he regained phone access, but
still has no email. Last month he was scheduled to transfer out of the
institution, then admin canceled the transfer without explanation at the
last minute.

-Four of the restricted prisoners (Greg, Hasan,
Keith and Jason) are litigants in a media access lawsuit which has been
making gains in the courts and has a hearing Wednesday April 25. This
restriction may be an attempt to punish or deter the prisoners from
suing the ODRC.